Feminism Written Assessment

Feminism Written Assessment Feminism has been around for a very long time and continues to occur today. By definition feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men” (Oxford Dictionaries). Through feminism men have set a certain standard for what women should look like. Women also receive the message of this so called standard through a doll that was created by a man. The Barbie doll was created with impossible assets. Between her height, waist, and bust size, a life sized “Barbie” would fall over. What kind of message is that sending to little girls worldwide? As impossible as the Barbie doll seems the Ken doll is bad too. Ken, who is Barbie’s partner, has no genitals. He also has six pack abs and perfect blonde hair and a smile on his face. Not every man in the world is like that. This doll is creating a standard that men now are expected to live up to.
Marge Piercy says “She was healthy, tested intelligent, possessed strong arms and back, abundant sexual drive and manual dexterity” (7-9). All of those positive things did not matter because all other people saw was a big nose and thick legs. In this patriarchal society Barbie is a model of what little girls aspire to be. Thus women are stereotyped with these impossible “Barbie” standards. Despite the fact that Barbie stereotypes women in a feminist way, she is possibly creating a new perspective to the traditional gender roles of women. She is an example of a very independent